Jeff Graham: Pumas Have Plenty to Prove in Playoffs

Listening to the radio broadcast of the Kitsap Pumas’ game against Vancouver on Wednesday, amid all the chatter and yelling on the sideline immediately following the 6-2 victory, I thought I heard something in the background I’d yet to hear this season.

That being the team breathing a collective sigh of relief.

The win over the Whitecaps enabled the second-year Pumas to celebrate clinching a Premier Development League playoff berth for the second consecutive season.

On Thursday, Kitsap won the right to host the Western Conference playoffs, outbidding at least one of the three teams — Hollywood United — that will come to Kitsap next weekend to try to advance to the league semifinals.

Now the Pumas are looking for a Hollywood ending after a really, really good — but not spectacular — regular season.

Two months ago, I would have put Kitsap down as a lock to make the postseason. The defending Northwest Division champions were coming off a 2-0 win over Washington, the team’s fourth straight shutout to start the year.

All seemed right in the soccer universe.

Then suddenly, the team stopped being — what’s a fitting description? — invincible.

There was the 3-0 defeat against the Portland Timbers U23s, the eventual Northwest Division champions. Kitsap also lost 4-1 to Portland’s big club in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup, a team the Pumas beat 3-2 in the preseason.

Kitsap followed with a 3-2-1 record in its next six games. The Pumas lost their final home game 1-0 to Portland in a game Kitsap easily could have tied or won. Instead, they watched the Timbers celebrate the first 16-0 season in the PDL in a dozen years.

Putting the ball in the back of the net consistently has plagued the Pumas throughout the season. Maybe the six-goal outburst against Vancouver is a sign of things to come?

Kitsap finishes its regular season tonight in Tacoma. Unless the team completely falls flat on its face against the Tide, the Pumas will retain the Narrows Bridge Bell, which goes to the winner of the home-and-home series (Kitsap beat Tacoma 3-0 in this season’s opener).

Expect Fewing to rest some banged up starters — midfielder Cameron Hepple (ankle) and defender Daniel Scott (concussion) should probably sit — and find playing time for some of his reserves, including newly-acquired forward Warlen Silva. Kitsap obtained Silva from Yakima earlier this week in a transfer.

Other than the trophy, it’s a pretty meaningless for the Pumas, who ended Tacoma’s playoff chances with the win in Vancouver.

Kitsap’s most important game is a week away, just down the road.

As for who the Pumas are playing, they’ll know that soon enough.

If Ventura County wins its final game tonight, Kitsap will earn a first-round date with the defending PDL champions. Ventura beat Kitsap 2-1 in the league quarterfinals last year before winning it all.

If Ventura County ties or losses tonight, Kitsap draws Hollywood United. It’ll be a matchup between two of the four professional PDL clubs.

If I’m being honest, I’m not sure what I think of the Pumas’ chances. The homer in me sees them winning the whole thing. After all, they’ve only lost one PDL match at home in two years.

The skeptic in me sees them losing in the first round.

Then again, what do I know? I picked the United States to reach the semifinals of the World Cup. And Argentina to win it all.